Reviews

Dark Space by Rob Hart, Alex Segura

ggfordca's review against another edition

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hopeful tense medium-paced

4.25

readr_joe's review against another edition

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

the_accuser_ronan's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A high stakes scifi political thriller has more twists and turns than a Chubby Checkers song
 Set in the near future, where Earth has been ruined by human greed and ignorance. Humans have colonised some of our solar system.This fast paced story is told by two separate protagonists separated by light years. 

Jose Carriles, son of a Martian senator, is the pilot of the spaceship Mosaic, heading towards a new habitable planet. When things start to go wrong, Carriles sends a distress message back to New Destiny. 

Corin Timony is a disgraced spy, demoted to a desk job on the moon colony of New Destiny intercepts the call, then told by her superiors to ignore the message. 

Both Carriles and Timony work opposite ends of the problem, both realising nothing is as it seems... 

Co-authors Rob Hart and Alex Segura weave an intriguing space mystery that keeps you coming back for more.

justacamp's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

transparent_tea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"' 'Heavy is the head that wears the crown.'... It's something I always took to heart. Leadership is hard. Whatever you think about this, you're the leader of this. And the time is going to come when you must make hard decisions. I just hope you have the guts for it.'" - Captain Demlar quoting Henry IV to Jose, about the current situation, and thinking Jose isn't cultured enough to know famous works 

"' Life isn't just about what we want to do, mijo. We have responsibilities. And one of the biggest responsibilities in the world is simple: showing up. Being present for the people who need you. It's the difference between the successful man with no friends and the good man who is never lonely.. Doing the right thing isn't complicated. Don't overthink it." - Jose's mother telling Jose this while he was younger, and he's recalling this memory at a dire time that's between life and death

I found this book in the new book section at my local library. Without knowing much about the book and the authors, the synopsis was enticing enough for me to pick it up and give it a go.

Pilot Jose Carriles and "paper pusher" Corin Timony were good friends until something rocked their friendship. We start with Jose piloting the Mosaic to a planet that he and the crew hope to learn more about, given that the current state of New Destiny is in shambles. From what I gather, New Destiny is another "planet", either Earth's moon or one of Mars' moons, because humans screwed up Earth 1.

As we adjust to the plot of Dark Space, we learn that some system issues with Mosaic put the crew into a series of life-or-death situations. Per the book, "they risked careening off the safety of the track - leaving them stranded in an area between lanes referred to as "dark space". For a fourth of the story,  the reader sees the crew in this dark space/limbo area until the ship reaches its final destination.

While back on New Destiny, we understand Corin Timony's story and become aware that the friendship between Jose and Corin deteriorated, in addition to Corin's background before she was demoted to admin work. However, her instincts are telling her that something's going on with her surroundings and somehow it's related to the Mosaic mission.

Without spoiling the story and ending, I went into reading Dark Space with no expectations and liked the story. The book is pitched as a sci-fi spy thriller, which is something I wouldn't gravitate towards if I had other options available, but knowing that there was an espionage element to the plot and that I always had an interest in reading more space-related books, I gave it a go and did enjoy it. Goodreads categorizes this book as a new subgenre that I haven't heard of until now, "space opera", which seems pretty fitting for the book.

The writing style(s) made the story feel like it was another fictional book, meaning that sci-fi lovers and readers who want to dive into sci-fi won't feel overbearing not knowing a lot about scientific terms (at least that's how I usually associate sci-fi to be), and having the chapters interchange perspectives between Jose and Corin made it easy to understand what was going on, without feeling lost. Even though both did not know they were working towards a "common goal", both were part of the solution to this problem.

michigansarabee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

A mix of space opera, James Bond and Star Trek.  No romance but at the end you see 2 characters who have moved past their hardships and reconnect.  Not my typical read but it sucked me in by chapter 2.

meganr's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I’m not sure who the audience for this book is supposed to be. It appears to be marketed for adults, but I have a hard time picturing any adult sci-fi fan enjoying it. The story is a perfect fit for the sci-fi adjacent category of religious fiction for middle grade readers, but there is no overt discussion of any particular faith. The simplistic “moral of the story” structure and overt ripping off of Avatar, Star Wars, Star Trek, Wall-E, etc. don’t require a book of this length, and the lack of basic proofreading/editing (“she turned her head to see behind her head”) make this less than a top pick even by the relatively relaxed standard of that genre.

I do, however, want to acknowledge the talent of the narrators of the audiobook- they do a great job differentiating the many characters without sliding into stereotypes. I just wish they had better material to work with.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

noctstate's review

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

xhekap30's review

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adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bschm's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5